We had a very sweet Christmas week. On Monday, we met sweet baby girl Reagan. I forgot how tiny newborns are!! Christmas Eve morning we did our own family celebration at our house. Quinn got a new water bottle and a bunch of pouches in her stocking (a luxury item around here). She was pretty pumped. Then Jonathan surprised me with a brand new sewing machine! We had agreed to having our gifts to eachother be the museum date and a stocking stuffer, but he likes to keep me on my toes. I'm so excited to put it to use on my project list. Quinn received a bike (want), baby doll (need), scarf (wear), and Winnie the Pooh book (read). She named the baby doll "baby boy", we were expecting Memo or Bebo since that's what she names a lot of things these days. She has been very sweet with him. We gave her the bike at Jonathan's parents' house since they went in on it with us. Such a big kid!

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve with my family and some of Christmas morning, then headed over to Jonathan's parents for the rest of the day. Quinn saw all four of her Gowins-side great grandparents, what a lucky girl! (And thanks, Auntie Amber, for the dress. Quinn thought she was a princess all day.)

Thursday was a bit relaxed and Friday we headed home through Corvallis. We stopped at the Thielmans' house and the Albers' house for some visiting. Saturday we had brunch with a longtime friend and then our friends from California, the Bells, came over for the rest of the day. Quinn thought their girls were so cool.

Sunday we were visited by the lovely Ihde family and then caught up with the Cases at the Khajavi-Poresky home over some tasty dinner. It was so great to see all these amazing people. 

On Monday, we went to the Portland Children's museum as a family. Quinn had such a fun time. Her definite favorites were the garden area, the water play area, and the grocery store. And she gave Dora a million hugs. 

We really enjoyed adding a Jesse Tree to our Christmas traditions this year. Each night starting December 1st we would read a story from the Bible and color an ornament with a symbol from the story to hang on the tree. It was amazing to see how much sunk in with Quinn. 

 Today has been a nice, boring Tuesday that included a trip to the grocery store and cuddling my runny-nosed girly. I think we all wore ourselves out pretty well. We hope everyone had a Christmas full of love and joy, and Happy New Year to all!

It's been a fun and festive week and a half. There have been a lot of secret elf projects going on around here. Jonathan even worked on a man gift project. Wednesday we had a full day date thanks to my fabulous mom. Jonathan and I decided our gift to each other this year would be going to the Samurai exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. We never got around to going when it was in SF, so we didn't want to miss it this time. We also had a nice lunch out and some wandering downtown. Jonathan went to a basketball game with his buddy this past weekend and I had a lunch date with a buddy as well. I also had the pleasure of taking this little sugar plum to the church Christmas pageant.

Yes, that's a travel mug in her hand. An essential accessory these days. We had a lot of fun getting dressed up and watching the show. I haven't seen her that mesmerized since she saw the Disneyland parade. Afterward, she kept getting excited pointing out all the kids dressed as angels.

There has also been lots of ballet in baby brother's room. She knows about passe and arabesque.

Who knew that Ikea toy could double as a ballet barre? 

And my favorite Christmas vocabulary word is "Four Wopsen". Also known as the three men who followed the star to Bethlehem.

We got our Christmas tree yesterday. It was crisp and sunny with snow on the ground at the farm we went to. All my Christmas tree memories involve rain and mud, so this was a treat. Quinn enjoyed tromping in the snow and especially loved spotting this famous family.

We bought this little nativity set and she has been all about Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus lately. They've come along on many outings and had many sleepovers.

We found a sweet little tree and headed home.

Quinn likes the lights, but I suspect that she thinks ornaments on the tree are just a fancy way to display new toys. Fortunately, she's very careful with them. Two of her favorites are Starbucks cups that she uses to play "coffee date" with Jonathan.

Well, that was a busy week! Jonathan's new job within the same company has required some earlier mornings, so the pace around our house has changed a bit. Plus, traveling for Thanksgiving, visiting friends, date night, and some other fun made for quite full days. I'll let the photos do the talking.

Helping daddy put up Christmas lights

Beginning our holiday travels (moments later, she pulled out the kazoo she secretly packed in her purse and played us some lovely music)

Thanksgiving Feast #1

Happy Birthday to Nana

Gingerbread treats after my midwife check-up. Baby brother is still doing great!

We are thankful for a healthy baby

BOY!

All family members have now been told. We are so excited to meet this little guy. Quinn talks about and to baby brother all the time. "Show you run fast, baby brother?" and off she races. "Like book, baby brother?" He's still giving me a pretty easy time and likes to practice his dance moves all day.

Lots to be grateful for, thanks be to God! Quinn says, "raindrops" right away every time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I'm glad it's Friday! We had some busy weeks around here.

Jonathan was in NYC for a couple days for work last week so Quinn and I ate lots of brinner and macaroni and cheese. But we made sure to have lots of outings too. We were both glad to have Jonathan back though!

This week Jonathan's mom came for a visit, Quinn had her first dentist appointment, we had some crafting playdates, we played outside, and we had home group at our house. I also finished stamping fabric for the baby's curtains. I couldn't find anything just right so my pregnant brain decided to make my own fabric. Glad that's out of my system now, haha! And I've begun my secret Christmas elfing projects, so fun!

We're on track for a nice weekend ahead. Jonathan and I feel so blessed to be experiencing this season of life. So many joys.

I finished the quilt! Now I just need a bedskirt and some different sheets. The quilt is far from perfect, but was so fun to make. I followed a tutorial from a sweet gal we knew in college (check her out, tons of cute kids clothes). I used my favorite Amy Butler fabric that always makes me think of Quinn, a bunch of other fun prints in coordinating colors, and there are also some sentimental patches. The sentimental patches don't match terribly well, but I like that they tell a story. There is fabric from her nursing pillow cover (lots of hours spent with that beauty), her first birthday dress, her second birthday dress, and a patch from the baby sibling's fabric which is conveniently cropped out. We are telling my parents the gender in person this weekend. They are coming up to take us to Quinn's first hockey game, her idea by the way. The Canadian blood is strong. And we are telling a lot of Jonathan's family at Thanksgiving. 

We had a good week - date night swap, bible study, outings, a good prenatal check-up. Quinn is blessed with strong genes in the imagination department and they are really starting to show. She has been coming with us to my appointments and wants to reenact them over and over afterward. After the ultrasound, she started propping a book so it looked like a laptop to type on, laying a cloth napkin on top of me, and swiping a headlamp over my belly to "check the baby" as well as listen to my heartbeat with her ipod cord stethoscope and take my blood pressure with the head lamp band. Oh dear. She pretends the arms of her sunglasses are soap pumps and has us all "wash our hands" frequently. Every blanket in the house has turned into a "poody dress" to walk around in. We do laps all around the house pretending to go places. She pretends to crack grapes like an egg. Most entertaining lately has been when she makes me follow her around looking for a moose hiding in our house. She finds it every time, but I have yet to see it. I really really don't know how she came up with that one. And when we went to the pool today, I had her wear sandals. She told me, "Quinnie wears sandals, match Jesus." I guess it's true though.

I'm now one step closer to Quinn's room being nested. I wanted to get the majority of her projects done before I find out the gender of the baby and start attacking that room. With this week feeling really busy with responsibilities, this floor cushion was a nice creative outlet. I've officially declared sewing as my hobby. I never ever thought I'd say that. Now, that doesn't mean I'm saying I'm a skilled sewista, just look up close at this cushion and you'll see plenty of funky spots. I've just been taking more risks lately and having tons of fun with it. I wanted to use Quinn's nursery curtains to make a fun reading seat for her since the baby will have their own new fabric for curtains. I saw a floor cushion tutorial that looked pretty straight forward and cute, and after I saw it reviewed, I decided to go for it. Let me tell you, if you have a sewing machine and could use some floor seating, you have to try this. I did it without any shouting or crying!

And Quinn loves it! (Particularly dragging it around by the handle and pretending it's a suitcase as she goes to the airport.)

And Happy 20 weeks to me!!

Sometimes, your child thinks their daddy is so cool, that one of their favorite games is pretending to wait for the bus. If that's the case, and you have an empty apple box, then you just have to make a bus for them.

We went to our friend's annual pumpkin carving party this weekend. So fun!

The pumpkin bump in the photo above has been kicking me nonstop since 16 weeks, 6 days. I can't believe I will hit 20 weeks on Thursday! We are really looking forward to the ultrasound coming up soon. We visited our friends' newborn Eden this weekend and my baby kept kicking Eden while I was holding her. Maybe they'll be buddies one day.

Time for a bunch of photos!

We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend (big surprise, right?)

Otherwise we've been busy playing outside and making applesauce. And we started hosting a home group for our church which has been a big blessing.
Quinn has been wanting to swaddle her toys lately as well as be swaddled while she reads.

And if we ever thought Quinn was a chatter box before, oh man, she's turned it up a notch. She loves reading and singing and talking and playing pretend non stop. She's usually resistant to anything in her hair but clips. Today she allowed some pigtails. Every serious gardener wears pigtails.

It was such a nice autumn weekend. We are definitely welcoming the return of the crisp, cool, air. Jonathan and Quinn went on a coffee date, the three of us went to the zoo, watched some football, worked outside, made some applesauce, and went to dinner at a friend's house. Quinn and her dear friend "Wa wa"played for over an hour straight without needing us to check on them so us adults actually got to chat. So nice! They were cracking eachother up like crazy, it was pretty hilarious to hear from the other room. 

Also, I finished Quinn's quarterly video. It's a bit longer than prior videos, but includes a bit of Disney footage and Uncle D and Auntie Boo as a musical guest.

I have to share this little moment for my memory and for Quinn's. Today, the women's Bible study at church started up again (hooray!) and Quinn went to her little class too. Afterward, while we were eating lunch, she told me, "Jesus God loves Quinnie and Quinnie loves Jesus God and Quinnie loves the Bible!" (Though it sounded more like "Deesy Dot yuvie Tinnie...") I about burst into tears! It's true, Quinn. I hope you never forget it.

I'm not sure how it's possible that I have a two year old. It's so easy to remember the events leading up to the day she was born. But the moments since then have been a blur of joy, laughter, and sweetness.

We had planned for Quinn's birthday party to be at the same park we held it at last year because the weather was gorgeous and it was a great venue. Unfortunately, the clouds were dumping rain this year. So we hosted 35+ guests in our little cottage. Somehow we managed to pull it off, I think because people arrived and departed at different times. Quinn wanted a yellow themed party. I posed the question in the middle of the party aisle at Target, thinking she'd choose a character on display. But she insisted on yellow! So we had lots of yellow food and decorations, and I made her a yellow dress. It was so fun seeing her greet her little friends. 

This morning, we woke Quinn up with yellow balloons and had the last of the cupcakes for breakfast. We went to a toddler indoor gym, got froyo, went to the library, read tons of books, played tea party a million times, had a special dinner and dessert, and finished with more reading and playing. A pretty good birthday I'd say. Here are a couple update photos for comparison (she's showing her age with her two fingers) and her outfit for the day. She picked it herself, I think it's actually a pretty cute ensemble. 

Quinn, you are a brilliant, sparkling ray of sunshine in our life and in the lives of others just because you're you. It's a delight being around you. We pray that you will know, follow, and love God from a young age and for all of the days after. We love you so much!

The day after we got back from Sunriver, we left for Disneyland! We weren't home much in September. Jonathan had a work conference at the Disneyland Hotel, I had a free flight saved up, and with Quinn under age two, we decided it was too good of a deal to pass up. Plus, it was a nice way to make a special memory with Quinn before she becomes a big sister. Jonathan got her a Minnie Mouse toy a year ago when he had a work trip in Florida and she loves "Mousie". She had recently started to become acquainted with some of the other classic characters too, so she was pretty excited. For weeks she was talking about going on a plane in the sky and who she was going to see. 

Jonathan and I laughed so hard so many times on this trip. She was thrilled about riding on a bus, a plane, a taxi, a train (at Disneyland), and rides. Fortunately, we had an empty seat next to us on both plane rides so she didn't have to sit on our lap. Last time she flew at 7 months, she was a lot less mobile. She would talk to everyone around us and usually brought up her birthday party. She memorized a bunch of landmarks around our hotel and Downtown Disney and knew the way to our room within a day. It was so entertaining to watch her try to make sense of this new place.

Our first full day, Jonathan had to work a lot more, so Quinn and I hung around the pool and Downtown Disney.
The second day, Jonathan only had one major event that mostly overlapped with Quinn's nap so he didn't miss out on much. We started the day with breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. Quinn was going nuts seeing all the characters for the first time. She'd shout their name when she saw them and her eyes would get huge. She wasn't a huge fan of Pluto and she doesn't really understand the princesses yet, but she was pretty amped about these characters.

Once we got into the park, she was talking nonstop and pointing to everything. She was most anticipating riding on a train, kind of funny for Disneyland, but it was actually really relaxing and nice not having to rush around or spend 45 minutes in line for the more popular rides. We went in Sleeping Beauty's castle, the tea cups, It's a Small World, Disneyland Railroad, and then spent the rest of the time before nap in Toon Town. After nap, we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, ate some dinner, went on the Jungle Cruise, watched the parade, and then returned to Toon Town until the park closed. Quinn adored playing in Minnie's house, especially sending "emo", a.k.a. email. We saw a lot of the characters in Toon Town also. Quinn didn't want to stand by any of them by herself, but with one of us holding her she'd touch their faces or give them high fives. It was fun to see her face in complete awe during the parade and full excitement discovering new things. 

The next morning, we let her choose a toy at the gift shop and she chose a sweet little Winnie the Pooh. We hung around Downtown Disney a little longer and then our friends, the Berrys, picked us up. We knew them when we lived in the bay area and they just recently moved near Anaheim. We stayed overnight at their house and got to spend some time catching up. Quinn loved playing with Noah.

We got back yesterday and Quinn requested to sleep in her yellow bed. We've been telling her no binkies in the big girl bed and she understands. Last night she actually slept through the night in the bed with no binkie and I'm happy to report she's napping there right now. Such a big kid! We just love our delightful little sweetie and are amazed at the person she is becoming. I can't believe she'll be two in just a couple days!